A bizarre training ground accident occurred on Thursday morning as the Seasiders stepped up their preparations for the game against FK Jelgava, ruling Alex Baptiste out of the fixture.

The defender went down in the final minute of a practice match after his hand took the full force of an effort from DJ Campbell. Physio Phil Horner quickly had the 24-year-old strapped up but he flew back to England this morning - via Sweden - for a scan on a suspected fracture.

Given that Gary Taylor-Fletcher also pulled up with a calf problem, the Seasiders went in to the evening's game against the Latvian side two players down, meaning that just eight substitutes were named on the bench.

The game itself marked the opening of the sides' brand new stadium, the Zemgale Olympic Center. The sand pits on the athletics track were still being worked on in the morning and the polythene was still on the seats in the dugout, but the workers pulled out all the stops to prepare the ground in time for the official unveiling.

1,750 supporters arrived to watch the fixture and seemed glad to be under shelter, the heavy downpour throughout the game meant that the Seasiders had to weather the storm, literally. Meanwhile we had our own technical difficulties to deal with as a lack of an internet signal in the vicinity prevented us from providing the usual live text updates.

The manager revealed in his prss interviews afterwards that he couldn't wait to get back on the training ground permanently now that the transfer window has closed, given the 12 new faces that have arrived this summer. The latest two, David Carney and Richard Kingson, ensured that Blackpool now have eight internationals on duty. 

Kingson's move to Bloomfield Road comes after further bad news for Paul Rachubka, who now looks set to be out of action following an operation until January - hence his omission from the 24-man squad.